5. Pay attention during drill instruction. To some, it is the most challenging aspect of Recruit Training

6. Learn to get dressed really quick. Quicker than you can possibly imagine.

7. Learn physical discipline. A good example would be to not scratch an itch.

8. If you are currently overweight, lose it before you hit the Depot. If you are skinny and are likely to be a double-rat, bon apetit.

9. Start sitting Indian style right now.

That should get you by alright. I went through in '95 so I'm sure things maybe have changed a little bit, but those are some good guidelines. It's a lot of fun. You'll always remember these times and those faces. Semper Fi recruit!

Jarhead covered most of it. Don't bring anything but $20 bucks in 1 dollar bills and your ID. No watch, not phone, nothing. They are going to take everything while you are there anyway, have a family member bring you that stuff on graduation day.

If you have long hair or any type of fashionable hair cut... go get a normal hair cut but do NOT show up with a high and tight or shaved head.

DO not ever stand out. Ever... NEVER EVER. You can stand out when you report to your first duty station.

Oh and every day remember... it is only a test.

It's been over 25 years for me and it was at the San Diego Navy RTC... But not much has changed. One thing you will learn fast...

When it's gets tough or frustrating, remember, they gotta break for chow at some point. The training schedule is everything. Your DI's WILL find time to take you out and kill you for a little while, but not that often. You are treated as children in that you have to be fed and in the rack at a certain time.

Oh, and just you wait for hygene inspection. This is the true measure of a man's composure. Absolutely hilarious!

From a Navy doc perspective who has taken care of dozens of recruits at the hospital (NMCSD, Balboa):

If you NEED to go to medical, GO (especially for fever, chills, shortness of breath, bad rashes). Pneumonia and MRSA cellulitis (bacterial skin infection) runs rampant through MCRD. Sadly, a couple recruits die from complications each year. Often times, recruits will refrain from sick call due to fear of DIs, being held back or simply looking weak. This can be a serious and potentially fatal mistake.

I am by no means encouraging “sick call commando” behavior. Just take of yourself and have fun.

probably the one thing i wish i got told!!!!! although drill instructors probably laugh their butts off watching 90 recruits try to stand up and run with dead legs after sitting cross legged for 4 hours!!!!

Just go and enjoy the experience. It sucks but it is not hard you will think it's hard when it's happening then looking back you'll realize it was pretty easy. Just don't **** over your other recruits, remember it's only 3 months a deployment is 7, and if you need a day off tell them your knee hurts and go to medical.

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Sure, I've been called a xenophobe, but the truth is, I'm not. I honestly just feel that America is the best country and the other countries aren't as good. That used to be called patriotism.

As stated before, learn your General Orders and practice sitting Indian Style.

When a D.I. starts counting down from 30, you've only got about 5 seconds in real time.

If you want to start practicing for training now, take a baseball cap in your right hand and begin smacking yourself in the forehead with the brim, while simultaneously spraying yourself in the face with a squirt bottle using your left hand.

You have two ears, two eyes, and one mouth. Listen and look more than you talk.

THIS.

Just give it your best. Bootcamp is designed to make you stronger, physically and mentally, so don't have half *** anything and do not try to get cookies and stuff sent to you in the mail. Don't take anything when you go, they give you running shoes, a haircut, etc. Just make sure you drink plenty of water a few weeks before you go. Need to be hydrated.

Stay hydrated.
Don't draw attention to yourself (except for the next point)
If you are smart and have good handwriting, try to be a scribe. They get some benefits that even the guide and squad leaders don't get, and a chance of meritorious promotion. Downside is they sometimes have to miss some events to do their duties.
Don't get sucked into the "recruit underground."
If you are LEGITIMATELY sick or injured, go to medical. If you get it taken care of in the early stages, it won't progress into something so serious that you get dropped, but don't be a "sick bay commando"
Do what you're told the way you're told to do it, and do it faster than humanly possible.
If questioned by an officer, don't try to guess times (like how long you were IT'd) what seems like hours is really only a few minutes. Don't betray your Drill Instructors, they put in more hours than you can imagine to make Marines, and most of them have families that they don't get to see.
Realize that recruit training is only temporary. Don't think that it what your whole enlistment will be like. 3 months of hard work is a small price to pay for something you'll have for the rest of your life; the title of "Marine."
Don't take your own running shoes; they issue some pretty good New Balance shoes now.
Remember that every Marine you encounter while you were there went through the same thing, including your D.I.s, and being a recruit is about 100 times easier than being a D.I. Trust me on this one.

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Work harder! Millions on welfare are depending on you!

Dude dont worry about anything...todays military members have it 80% easier then veterans who came in 10yrs ago...its a breeze just have fun.

Not necessarily true. It goes in cycles. Hard for a few years, then gets soft for a while, then toughens back up. I was a recruit in '90, and think it was just as hard in '99 and '04-07 when I was a D.I. It was different, but not necessarily easier. Some aspects were harder, some easier.

Edit: just noticed you generalized "military." USMC is the only service that's not DOD sanctioned recruit training, so a little different from the other branches.

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Work harder! Millions on welfare are depending on you!

Recruit training...?
It has changed so much over the past 10 years that most of us probably cant give you too much advice.
It is going to be easy. Disappointingly easy.

Fact!! It's so easy a caveman can do it now! Believe me I have first hand knowledge. Keep your head up and push forward. Don't botch and moan about little stuff, it's only going to get worse for the rest of the time on. Live chow to chow, day to day and especially Sunday to Sunday. You'll understand that fast. You'll learn a lot just pay attention and learn everything that you can while you're there. Especially when it comes to the rifle range and most importantly Table 2 Combat Marksmanship. It will save your life and the buddy next to you in combat!

Take it one day at a time, wake up do what you have to do and go to sleep. Have your crap organized. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Pay attention. Don't break your body if you can help it and don't go there fat. Help out your fellow recruits if you can. Good luck.

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United States Marine Corps
SAF Defenders Club
NRA Lifetime Member

Just understand that there's an inverse relation between frequency of slayings and your ability to accomplish anything quickly.

On the other hand, understand that you will get slayed and just accept it. If you aren't a contract PFC, realize that 3 months could determine whether or not you catch the NCO promotion wave at the right time. Maybe that'll motivate you to not tap out when you're given a billet (guide/squad leader/scribe).

I live on Edson Range and eat 2/3 of my meals there, I'll probably see you at some point in a month and a half if you don't cycle out.

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"There is an old song which asserts that "the best things in life are free". Not true! Utterly false! This was the tragic fallacy which brought on the decadence and collapse of the democracies of the twentieth century; those noble experiments failed because the people had been led to believe that they could simply vote for whatever they wanted… and get it, without toil, without sweat, without tears."

1. Eat your vegetables first. You don't always have time to finish chow, if you get sick, you'll get dropped and have to stay in boot camp longer. If you're only eating mashed potatoes and jello, don't be surprised you're sick.

2. Wisdom teeth - If your wisdom teeth need to come out, ask the dental officer if they'll allow you to get it done when you check into your unit. You will get zero sympathy for your surgery and be doing pushups and PT with a horribly sore mouth.

4. Mark all of your gear. Sometimes multiple foot lockers get dumped in the squad bay; you'll want to be able to locate your gear.

5. Remember this is NOT the fleet Marine Corps.

6. Have fun. Those DI's say some ridiculously funny sh*t. And since you can't laugh, it's even funnier. Of course then they lose their mind and thrash you and it's not funny anymore.

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Attention Marines! (and military friendly employers); I'm the new OC rep for www.marineforlife.org, looking to connect transitioning Marines to civilian opportunities; employment, education, etc. PM me if you are a Marine in need, or if you have an opportunity for military members.

I would highly recommend being an individual and questioning every order given. It'll help you stand out and really show your DI's that you are capable of a higher thought process and critcal thinking than the rest! Heck, might even get you E3 right outta boot! How hot is that?!

The crucible has been completely bastardized. It's nothing like it was when it first came out. I remember when they first started the Crucible, we all thought the "Crucible Marines" had it easy, then I went down as a D.I. and found out the Crucible was no joke; 56 miles of humps and about 6 hours of sleep in 3 days on 1-1/2 MRE's, plus all the obstacles. When I went back again in '04, most of the obstacles were no longer being used, the hike mileage had gone down a lot, and they got more sleep and food (3 MRE's for the 3 days).

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Work harder! Millions on welfare are depending on you!

Lima Co,
Sure it's changed, new religious services, new food. But the corpsmen are still dicks so don't clench. And "nothing is as bad as yesterday" even if it is, even if you rotate to PorkChopPlatoon you're one day closer.

When I finished the Crucible in '96, my entire right foot was one giant blister. It's the only time in boot camp when you are forced to hump with soaking wet feet and the results are palpable when you're done. The silly obstacles were indeed frustrating! We started at 2 in the morning with ( i kid you not) 100 pound packs and cement filled ammo cans humpin' 3 miles or so to the staging area. Physically, that first few hours was the hardest and then you're so amped up about getting your EGA that the rest is gravy. It was all fairly easy with the exception of mess (team) week. Long hours, little sleep, steady work.

My philosophy towards volunteering when the DI says "I need (so many) bodies" was different. I raised my hand every time I could and yes, got stuck with some sorry *** details, but eventually they stopped picking me when I raised my hand and just started assigning me to various duties, many of which were cake and allowed me some skate time

Good duties include watching other houses while entire platoons are at swim, rifle quals etc., early or late chow, shadow for a sick call recruit, and other milk runs that get you away from things, if only for a little while.

Sounds like there is already some great advice on here. I will reiterate keep your ears open and mouth shut. While on that subject keep your digits out of your eyes and mouth. I swear there are all kinds of viruses that feed solely on recruits just to make life fun. Good advice on dental as well. The most important thing to remember is that this is not the fleet Marine Corps. Once you get out of there it will be up to you to make the right choice and do what is right. Also remember that your time in the Marines is all about what you make of it. Don't screw off get into trouble and be a pile of crap. If you get into an MOS you don't like, find a new one. If you are thinking of going into MARSOC do it as early in your career as you can.